Introduction

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off
and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport. An airport consists of at least one
surface such as a runway for a plane to take off and land, a helipad, or water
for takeoffs and landings, and often includes buildings such as control towers, hangars and
terminal buildings.
Larger airports may have fixed base operator services, seaplane docks and ramps, air traffic
control, passenger facilities such as restaurants and lounges, and emergency services.
A military airport is known as an airbase or air station.
History
The earliest aircraft takeoff and landing sites were grassy fields. The plane could approach at any
angle that provided a favorable wind direction. A slight improvement was the dirt-only field,
which eliminated the drag from grass. However, these only functioned well in dry conditions.
Later, concrete surfaces would allow landings, rain or shine, day or night.
Following World War II, airport design became more sophisticated. Passenger buildings were
being grouped together in an island, with runways arranged in groups about the terminal. This
arrangement permitted expansion of the facilities. But it also meant that passengers had to
travel further to reach their plane.
An improvement in the landing field was the introduction of grooves in the concrete surface.
These run perpendicular to the direction of the landing aircraft and serve to draw off excess
water in rainy conditions that could build up in front of the plane's wheels.
Airport construction boomed during the 1960s with the increase in jet aircraft traffic. Runways
were extended out to 3,000 m (9,800 ft). The fields were constructed out of reinforced
concrete using a slip-form machine that produces a continual slab with no disruptions along the
length. The early 1960s also saw the introduction of jet bridge systems to modern airport
terminals, an innovation which eliminated outdoor passenger boarding. These systems became
commonplace in the United States by the 1970s.
Definition of Terms
Airport - A tract of leveled land where aircraft can take off and land, usually equipped
with hard-surfaced landing strips, a control tower, hangars, aircraft maintenance and
refueling facilities, and accommodations for passengers and cargo.
Airport Hangar - Is a closed structure to hold aircraft or spacecraft in protective storage.
Most hangars are built of metal, but other materials such as wood and concrete are also
used.
Airport Terminal - A building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground
transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from aircraft.
Arrival - Terminal where the incoming passengers land from the aircraft.
Departure Terminal where the passengers depart for flights.
Gate - A gate in aviation is a long, movable, "bridge" that allows passengers to embark
and disembark their aircraft.
Helipad - Landing site for a helicopter which are generally built away from large
structures, which could pose a hazard to the landing helicopters. They may also be built
on the roofs of large office buildings, or even on the decks of ships. Helipads typically
consists of a hard, level surface, - often featuring a large 'H' painted in white, or a
number indicating the maximum weight that the helipad can safely support.
Heliport - A small-scale airport designed for helicopters. A heliport typically consists of
one or more helipads, with support facilities ranging from fuel to landing lights, and
occasionally aircraft hangars.
Jet Bridge - A jet bridge (also termed jetway, loading bridge, aerobridge / airbridge, air
jetty, portal, passenger walkway or passenger boarding bridge) is an enclosed, movable
connector which extends from an airport terminal gate to an airplane, allowing
passengers to board and disembark without going outside. Depending on building
design, sill heights, fueling positions and operational requirements, it may be fixed
or movable, swinging radially or extending in length.
Airport: Planning Components
The term airport can include not only the civil airports familiar to holidaymakers but also
airfields (which may have few or no associated buildings) and heliport. They may be devided
into those which are public (i.e. accessible to any air travelers) and those which are private
e.g. air freight terminals, company airports, and aero clubs and air force bases).
Location
The choice of location for an airport will depend on topographical, geological and
meteorological conditions as well as the position of surrounding built-up areas. Sufficient
land must be available for take-off and landing runways, storage, etc. and, ideally, for
possible future expansion. Another important factor is proximity to existing and potential
transport networks.
General Expansion Plan
For all airports, an expansion plan covering at least 20 years ahead should be drawn up, and
revised at regular intervals in order to allow for changes in the volume and nature of air
traffic, developments in aircraft technology and other innovations.
Traffic forecasts should include information about movements of aircraft, numbers of
passengers and volume of freight. They should be checked and updated on a regular basis
to account for the pace of modern-change. For the calculations, and the design of the
airport facilities and installations, typical peak traffic values (i.e. those reached 30 times per
year or 10 times within the peak month) should be chosen, not the absolute peak values.





Forward planning requires a traffic forecast based on the following data:
Average/peak passenger movements (overseas/domestic, arrivals/departures,
transfers/transits, short-haul/long-haul);
Average/peak air-freight/mail take-offs and landing (overseas/domestic,
import/export/transfer), proportions of standard dimensions (containers, pallets)
average/peak total tonnage, number of items or volume of goods;
Average/peak movements of aircraft according to types of aircraft (passenger, freight
or mixed traffic).
Other factors important to planning are:
Choice of mode of transport by passengers (private car, taxi, public transport);
Average number of people accompanying each passenger. Average number of pieces of
luggage per passenger, number of visitors to airport (unconnected to passengers/
employees).












Airport Terminals
The following functional areas determine the airport capacity:
Take-off and landing runway systems (possible movements of aircraft per unit time);
Taxiways and number of arrival/departure gates;
Passenger terminal buildings (possible movements of passengers, baggage and
airfreight per unit time).
The capacity of the check system is determined by:
The related road and rail systems (including parking provisions, capacity of roads);
Passenger/baggage check-in clearance (number of counters and capacity of conveyor or
transport system);
Passport control, security checks, checks prior to boarding the plane (size of waiting
rooms, number of counters).
The apron is the area that connects runways to the terminal. It includes taxiways, aircraft
maneuvering/parking areas, associated traffic areas and roads for service vehicles, as well as
storage areas for service vehicles and equipment, and should therefore be developed in
conjunction with the terminal.




Passenger Terminal Concepts
Airports use different methods of accommodating aircraft and linking them with the terminals
and the main buildings. There are four main concepts:
Pier Concept (with central main terminal) aircraft park on both sides of a pier
connected to the terminal building. Where there are two or more piers, the space in
between has to be sufficient for 1-2 apron taxiways each (allowing taxiing in and out at
the same time).
Satellite Concept (with central main terminal) one or more buildings, each surrounded
radially with aircraft parking places, are connected to the main terminal, generally by
large underground corridors.
Linear Concept aircraft are parked alongside the terminal building in a line next to one
another in nose-in, parallel or diagonal positions. The parking position determines to a
great extent the overall length of the terminal.
Transporter Concept aircraft parking is spatially separated from the terminal and the
passengers are taken to and from their flights by specially, designed transport vehicles.
Further mixed variations (hybrid concept) can be developed from these basic concepts.
Runways and Aprons
The orientations, lengths and numbers of take-off and landing runways are determined by a
number of factors:
Orientation is determined essentially by the prevailing local wind direction, the aim being
to make it possible to approach the airport for 95% of the year (with a maximum side
wind of 20 knots). Frequent strong crosswinds may make a corresponding second
runway necessary.
Length is determined by the type of aircraft, predominant climatic and topographic
conditions, such as temperature, air pressure (related to height above sea level), land
gradient, etc.
The number of runways is dependent upon the volume of traffic to be handled. A parallel
arrangement (note that the minimum separation is 215m) is particularly advantageous
and, if the separation is more than 1310m, simultaneous take-offs and landings are
possible, which allow the highest theoretical capacity to be reached.
The taxiing area is to be designed in such a way that the runways can be cleared as fast as
possible after the landing (fast exit taxiing runways) and parking positions can be reached by
the shortest possible routes. In specially busy airports, provisions of overtaking areas or by pass
runways can help to increase capacity.
Aircraft Parking Positions
The nose-in position has the following advantages: small space requirements; few problems with
exhaust streams for personnel, buildings and equipments; quick servicing times as the necessary
equipment can be made available before arrival; and ease of connection to passenger bridges.
However, this position requires a means of towing for maneuvering purposes and this add time
and calls for trained personnel.
With taxi in/taxi out parking (e.g. diagonal nose-in and diagonal nose-out), towing is not
necessary. However, such parking needs a larger space and creates more fumes and noise
pollution directly in the vicinity of the terminal as the aircraft is taxiing, thus making it necessary
to add protective measures such as blast barriers.
The parallel parking system offers the easiest maneuvering for arriving and departing aircraft
and there is no need for towing. The disadvantages are that parallel parking has the greatest
overall space requirement and limits activity in neighboring aircraft positions during taxiing.


Apron Roadways and Parking Spaces
Signposting and positioning of service roadways on the apron are of great importance to the
efficient and safe functioning of the airport. Apron roadways should be designed to give direct
and safe connection of the apron to the other working areas of the airport. The points at which
they cross aircrafts taxiways or other service vehicle routes should be kept to the minimum. They
can be run in front of or behind planes in the nose-in position, or between the wings.
Should the roadways run underneath passengers bridges, sufficient headroom for all service
vehicles is required (usually 4.50 m minimum). Because of the extensive mechanization and
containerization of aircraft servicing, it is vital to provide enough space for loading and parking
of service vehicles and equipment (including empty containers).
Terminals essentially facilitate the transfer of passengers from ground transport (public
transport, taxis, and private cars) to the aircraft. They must therefore be planned in such a way
that the movement of passengers and their luggage takes place efficiently, comfortably and
quickly, and at the same time with the lowest possible running cost. An important criterion is
passenger travelling distance: the distances between the car park/drop-off point and the main
functional areas should be kept as short as possible. Modification to accommodate any
increases in traffic must also be possible without radical and costly alterations to the original
terminal.